I'm not following you. When you start a new yarn at the beginning of the row, just leave 6" or so to weave in the tail and just start knitting with it. That's all you need to measure. Unless you mean something else...

eta, and yeah, i just start a new end when I run out of the old one. And I use knots, and mostly knit in the round or seamlessly. But I don't do color changes either.

I actually don't like to change at the beginning of a round. I remember reading in Knitting Without Tears that Elizabeth Zimmermann said since she works in the round most of the time that she never thinks about changing at the beginning of a row. I think I thought if it was good enough for her it was good enough for me. It is also a yarn saver and 'tight' is my middle name, so suits me well. I like to change in a place where I have some St st going if I can, and now that I've learned Russian join if I'm not doing St st but lace or something I'd use that.

That doesn't frighten you, David? Mostly I don't worry too much about it, I start the new yarn when the old runs out. I'm sure other people know more and can estimate better than I do. When I did worry about it, I would tie a slip knot in my yarn at about a yard from the needle, use a stitch marker to mark my starting stitch and then count how many stitches I had done when I got to the slip knot. From there I could estimate fairly closely how many yards it took for a row. You can use whatever unit of measure you're comfortable with, I hold the needle near my nose and stretch my arm out to measure a yard. If I'm doing a stitch pattern I don't want to risk running out of yarn, this is how I'll do it.

__________________~ GG
Happiness is catching that dropped stitch while it's still fixable..

The Following User Says Thank You to GrumpyGramma For This Useful Post:

Take a look at the Tips page for ways to join new yarn. I also don't worry about running out of yarn in the middle of a row. Just join the new ball by whatever method you like and continue on. It makes for less bulky seams too.

I must be on the same page as David and GG 'cause I got what you were saying.

Here's my method: Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, (oh my, I'm almost out of yarn), knit, knit, knit, (will I make it to the end of the row?), knit, knit, knit (will I?), knit, knit, knit, knit, (I'm not going to make it--SIGH), knit, knit, knit, (well, I might make it), knit, knit, knit, knit (Nope, not going to make it), knit, knit, knit (Maybe I won't run out of yarn), knit, knit, (there's no way I can make this stretch to the end of the row), knit, knit, knit, (well maybe), knit, knit, knit, knit, (come on, Baby, just a few more), knit, knit, knit (Ahh! I DID have enough). Join new ball of yarn.

And that's my tried-and-true method for figuring out whether I have enough yarn to finish a row!

Last edited by Antares : 01-18-2013 at 09:28 AM.
Reason: Because it's Friday

I must be on the same page as David and GG 'cause I got what you were saying.

Here's my method: Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, (oh my, I'm almost out of yarn), knit, knit, knit, (will I make it to the end of the row?), knit, knit, knit (will I?), knit, knit, knit, knit, (I'm not going to make it--SIGH), knit, knit, knit, (well, I might make it), knit, knit, knit, knit (Nope, not going to make it), knit, knit, knit (Maybe I won't run out of yarn), knit, knit, (there's no way I can make this stretch to the end of the row), knit, knit, knit, (well maybe), knit, knit, knit, knit, (come on, Baby, just a few more), knit, knit, knit (Ahh! I DID have enough). Join new ball of yarn.

And that's my tried-and-true method for figuring out whether I have enough yarn to finish a row!

I understood perfectly. Both the original question and Antares method for deciding if it's enough. I use the same method unless it's really really critical like a color change or something.

I don't usually obsess over having to join at the beginning of a row/round. For one thing, I often find it easier not to... but I'm a little strange (okay a lot). For another it drives me completely spare to waste yarn (a holdover from my childhood, no doubt, that no amount of therapy will ever cure). But if it's critical, I usually figure on 3-4 times the length of the row. If it's plain garter or stockinette, 3 is usually sufficient. If it's a pattern stitch... it's a little dicier. And if I'm trying to decide if I have enough for a BO, I err on the long side (at least 4x) because all bets are off at that point, especially if I'm gonna be using the double-your-needle-size convention.

I must say, I don't like starting a new ball of yarn in the middle of a row as I'm not confident with the russian method of joining yarn. And, often, I'm working with hybrid commercial yarns that have polyester or synthetic blending with animal fibers and they don't splice together very well for me.